Article warmer with heated frame and flexible enclosure

ABSTRACT

A warmer and dryer for fabric articles having a vertically disposed heated frame upon which one or more articles can be draped. . .A heated fluid is circulated through the frame by a pump that is mounted in the base of the frame..!. The frame is enclosed by a flexible enclosure made from a material that retains heat while at the same time allowing moisture to pass therethrough into the surrounding ambient. Sufficient heat is provided to warm the atmosphere within the enclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an improved article warmer and, in particular,to a warmer for both heating towels and removing residual moisture fromthe towel fabric.

Many different towel warmers are presently available for use inbathrooms or the like. These devices generally take the form of atubular frame upon which a towel to be warmed is hung or suspended. Inpractice, the frame is heated and thus only the inside section of thetowel which is in direct contact with the frame is warmed. Towels andsimilar fabric articles are poor conductors of heat and thus, theseheated frame devices do not provide a thorough warming of the towel.Cayley, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,309 describes a closed cabinet forwarming towels. The towel is hung within the cabinet upon a U-shapedmetal sheet. A heating element is contained within the U-shapedstructure which heats the sheet by convection. Although Cayley providesfor more uniform heating of the towel, the system consumes a good dealof energy. In addition, moisture driven from the towel remains capturedin the cabinet atmosphere and is thus easily reabsorbed by the towel. Asa consequence, a towel treated in the cabinet may be warmed, however, itcan contain moisture which quickly cools once the towel is removed fromthe cabinet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary object of the present invention to improve apparatus forwarming articles such as towels, blankets and the like.

It is a further object of the present invention to remove moisture froman article as it is being warmed so that it is warmed to dryness.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a towel warmerthat both warms a towel and removes moisture contained in the towelfabric.

A still further object of the present invention is to warm a fabricarticle or the like in a dry atmosphere.

These and many other objects of the present invention are attained by adrying apparatus that includes a base upon which is mounted a uprighttubular frame upon which a fabric article such as a towel, blanket, orthe like is draped. The frame is heated to a level sufficient to drivemoisture from the towel. The frame is covered with a flexible bag orcosy that has the ability to hold heat while at the same time allowingmoisture removed from the towel to pass through the bag fabric and intothe surrounding ambient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of these and other object of the presentinvention reference will be made herein to the following detaileddescription of the invention which is to be read in association with theaccompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view with portions broken away illustrating theteachings of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a second perspective view with portions broken away showing afurther embodiment of the invention:

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring initially to FIG. 1 there is shown a towel warming stand,generally referenced 10, embodying the teaching of the presentinvention. The stand includes a rectangular base 12 having legs 13--13at the lower corners so that the base can be securely set upon the floorof a bathroom or the like. An upright frame 15 is secured in the basewhich is made up of a pair of vertical tubular risers 16 and 17 that areinterconnected by means of a plurality of horizontal tubular members18--18. The horizontal members of the frame serve as hangers over whichtowels such as towel 20 can be draped as shown.

With further reference to FIG. 2, the base 12 houses a fluid reservoir23 containing a quantity of oil 24 or similar type liquid having arelatively high coefficient of heat. Immersed in the reservoir is anelectrical resistance heating element 25 that is connectable to aconventional electrical outlet through means of a switch 26 andelectrical lead 27. An electrically driven pump 30 is coupled to theliquid reservoir by an inlet line 31. The discharge side of the pump isconnected to riser 16 of the frame 15 via supply line 34. The pump isalso connected to the switch so that closing the switch willsimultaneously activate both the pump and the heating element.Alternatively, the oil may be simply circulated through the frame byconvection.

With the switch closed, heated liquid will be circulated through theframe members and then returned to the reservoir via frame member 17.Heat is transferred from the flowing liquid via both conduction andconvection to warm the frame members. As shown in FIG. 1, the entireframe 15 is housed within a bag or cosy-like enclosure 40. The enclosureis fabricated of a flexible material that is capable of retaining heatwhile at the same time allowing moisture within the enclosed atmosphereto pass freely to the surrounding ambient. An example of one suchmaterial is marketed under the tradename Thinsulate™ (by 3M) which isused widely in the manufacture of winter garments.

The bag-like enclosure 40 contains a front panel 41 and a back panel 42that are cojoined by a gusset 43 that extends around the two sides andtop of the enclosure. The bottom of the bag is open so that it can beeasily placed over the frame to entirely enclose the frame and anytowels or the like that might be draped over the frame. Oftentimes thetowels placed upon the frame contain a moisture from previous use orlaundering, and, as explained above, will normally be warmed to drynessin those areas contacting the heated frame members.

Sufficient heat is transferred from the frame to heat both the towel andthe atmosphere trapped within the bag. Moisture driven from the towelduring the warming process is passed to the trapped atmosphere and thenthrough the bag material under natural flow conditions to thesurrounding ambient. Accordingly, the atmosphere within the bag ismaintained in a condition to facilitate the warming of the entire areaof a towel mounted on the rack to dryness.

As illustrated in FIG. 2 a second outer frame generally referenced 50 ismounted upon the base 12. The outer frame contains two pairs of verticalsupports 51 and 52 mounted in the opposed end walls of the base. Thevertical supports are joined by a pair of horizontally disposed topmembers 53. The outer frame defines a rectangular box in which the innerheating frame 15 is located. An enclosure 55 is supported on the outerframe which again is fabricated of a flexible material that will retainheat but allow moisture to readily pass therethrough. The enclosureincludes opposed side panels 56 and 57, opposed by panels 58 and 59 andtop panel 60.

The enclosure 55 is arranged to pass over the support frame 50 as shown,to completely enclose the heating frame 15 therein. The front panel 56of the enclosure is provided with a vertically extended zipper 61 thatallows the enclosure to be opened and closed without having to remove itfrom the supporting frame. As can be seen, this double frame arrangementprovides for additional space within the bag for warming bulky articlessuch as blankets or the like.

Here again, sufficient heat is transferred from the frame 15 to a towelor towels mounted thereon to both warm and dry the towels. At the sametime, a warm dry atmosphere is established within the enclosure whichhelps in the conditioning of the towels and maintains the towels in thedesired warm dry condition until they are removed from the enclosure.

While this invention has been explained with reference to the structuredisclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set forth and thisapplication is intended to cover any modifications and changes as maycome within the scope of the following claims:

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus for warming articles that includesabase supporting a tubular warming frame having interconnected memberswhereby a fluid can be circulated through the frame, a flaccid bagpassing over said frame to enclose said frame and an article to bewarmed hanging upon said frame, said bag being constructed of a materialadapted to retain heat while at the same time allowing moisture to passfreely therethrough whereby a warm dry atmosphere can be maintainedwithin said bag, and pumping means adapted to circulate a heated fluidthrough said frame to heat both an article hung upon said frame and theair contained inside the bag to maintain a warm dry atmosphere withinthe bag.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said bag contains avertically disposed fastening means for selectively opening and closingsaid bag whereby articles can be passed in and out of said bag withoutremoving the bag from said warming frame.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1that further includes a heater means mounted in said base for heatingthe fluid that is circulated through said warming frame.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1 that further includes a second support framemounted in said base upon which the bag is supported out of contact withsaid warming frame. .Iadd.5. Apparatus for warming fabric articles, saidapparatus having a base supporting a tubular warming frame and a meansfor circulating a heated fluid through said frame, the improvementcomprising:a flaccid bag passing over said frame to enclose said frameand an article to be warmed hanging upon said frame, said bag beingconstructed of a material adapted to retain heat while at the same timeallowing moisture to pass freely therethrough whereby a warm dryatmosphere is maintained within said bag. .Iaddend..Iadd.6. Theapparatus of claim 5 wherein said baa contains a vertically disposedfastening means for selectively opening and closing said bag wherebyarticles can be passed in and out of said bag without removing the bagfrom said warming frame. .Iaddend..Iadd.7. The apparatus of claim 5 thatfurther includes a heater means mounted in said base for heating thefluid that is circulated through said warming frame. .Iaddend..Iadd.8.The apparatus of claim 5 that further includes a second support framemounted in said base upon which the bag is supported out of contact withsaid warming frame. .Iaddend.